Library

The library is located on the ground floor of the hospital, between the Accident and Emergency (A & E) and the outpatient department (OPD) complex.

Each year, the library subscribes to 218 medical journals; 154 of them, international. Journals with very high impact factor such as Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, B M J and Archives of Internal Medicine, WHO global periodicals and publications arrive in the library within 2 weeks of their publication. In addition, the library has subscribed to 2074 e-resources of the digital library of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik. The library stocks 25,851 books. The library has also carefully archived old journals- a total of 15,932 hard-bound journals, neatly stacked, occupy the shelves of the library. The journals are alphabetically arranged. Although several journals date as far back as 1960, they can be easily accessed. The books are classified according to the DDC system and catalogued according to AACR II system. Since 1992, the library has been identified as a resource library in Western India within HELLIS Network. The membership of the library is open to MGIMS students and faculty and also to the supporting staff of the Kasturba Health Society. Members can borrow books and journals and retain them for a fortnight.

Spread over an area of 7000 meters, the library offers an alluring ambience to bibliophiles- they can comfortably browse through the rich reading material available in the clean and uncluttered library and can even charge their laptop batteries on the reading desks of the library. Because the library was getting crowded and students started competing for the chairs, in 1989, the institute built the Lokmanya Tilak reading hall on the third floor of the hospital building. About 150 graduate and postgraduate students use this hall to study for their examinations. The library offers an access to Internet and houses digital photocopy machines. It liaises with National Medical Library, Delhi and delivers hard copies of articles, not available in the library for a small fee. Socially disadvantaged students can get free text books from the library.

Campuswide free access to UpToDate

In 2012, MGIMS bought an annual campus wide subscription of UpToDate®, an evidence-based, physician-authored clinical knowledge resource which clinicians trust to make the right point-of-care decisions. Medical students, residents, faculty and researchers at MGIMS now use UpToDate in diverse locations - in their classrooms, in the post-graduate teaching sessions, at the point of care in the hospital wards and intensive care units and even in the crowded outpatient departments. The evidence-based electronic source of information helps doctors to use the most appropriate screening test, order the most reliable diagnostic test, choose the best option for their patients, compare and contrast the two modes of therapy and predict the outcomes of their patients. By combining rich experience with evidence, now the doctors at MGIMS help patients get the best therapy that is also tailored to their socio economic status, their wishes, and their choices.

“We have been immensely benefited by electronic access to UpToDate, said a resident working in the intensive care unit”. “Now, we can ensure that our patients are treated not by the whims and fancies, dated ideas and idiosyncrasies of their physicians, but by recommendations that have a proven track record,” said another resident. And they have a reason to be delighted. UpToDate has a team that comprises of more than 5,700 world-renowned physician authors, editors and peer reviewers who use a rigorous editorial process to synthesize the most recent medical information into trusted, evidence-based recommendations that are proven to improve patient care and quality. More than 850,000 clinicians in 164 countries and almost 90% of academic medical centers in the U.S. rely on UpToDate, and more than 30 research studies confirm the widespread usage of UpToDate and its association with improved patient care and hospital performance - including reduced length of stay, adverse complications and mortality. MGIMS is one of the few teaching hospitals in the country where students and faculty get free access to UpTodate- 24/7.